Lisa Lisa
PLAYSTYLE Use mind games to get in, then keep up the pressure with devastating multi-branching rekkas. Lisa Lisa’s playstyle revolves around your ability to get in the opponent’s face and keep pressure on them. Stringing together various mixups, she’s able to deal massive damage before the opponent can properly react. This requires intimate knowledge of abusing her rekkas, initiated with 236A, j214A, 6H, and 6R (axis rotation button). Afterwards, she can use various inputs to string together a variety of rekka moves, then ending with one of three different finishers. Her rekka starters all have different use cases: 6R is a "super-sidestep" that can easily chain into rekkas off a well-timed dodge, 236A is an exceptional combo or blockstring tool which will even crumple if you spend meter, j214A is a powerful oki tool and useful for mixing up opponents on wakeup, and 6H is a fast anti-air. Conditioning your opponent is paramount to playing Lisa Lisa, since the majority of her rekka moves do not combo into each other and are instead a complex series of mixups between highs, lows, and a throw. Lisa Lisa doesn’t have many routes for real combos, but doesn’t really need them - for a single meter, her standard combo does upwards of 450 damage, aside from the fact that her cornerstone hop combos do 300+ damage for only a tenth of a meter. However, Lisa Lisa isn’t without drawbacks. Most combos requiring more than one meter aren’t worth it, only doing marginally more damage, and the meter is better spent performing two more standard one-bar combos. She has few tools to get in where she wants to be, with j214A knife throw being her best option but forcing into her rekka state which makes her highly vulnerable if the knife throw didn’t connect. Her normals are mediocre at best, and her moveset lacks an anti-air of any kind, forcing her to play evasively when on the defensive and struggling in neutral. While it’s tempting to mash buttons during her rekkas, this will only get you moves you don’t want and free combos for your opponent. Additionally, all of Lisa Lisa’s rekka mixups are prone to being Stylish Dodged, and are highly telegraphed, meaning variety alone won’t be enough to prevent opponents from making their way out. PROS * Able to cause massive damage in relatively few interactions. * Easily takes advantage of matchup unfamiliarity. * Requires little meter to deal damage. * jM is one of the best cross-ups in the game. * Many moves have invincibility frames that allow her to power through opponents trying to break out of her rekkas. * Can cancel any part of rekka into GHA counter. CONS * Combos are more difficult on a number of characters and simply don’t work on a couple. * Struggles to get out of pressure and lacks an anti-air. * Must use meter to cancel dropped rekkas or enter a lengthy recovery animation and risk being punished. * Clever opponents can easily identify and avoid her mixups due to being very telegraphed. Combos 0 bar: 2L > 5L > 5M > 5H > 236L > L > 6L Damage: 155 This is the combo you do when you have no meter whatsoever. Get more meter! 2L > 5L > 5M > 5H > 236L > L > 6S Damage: 220 This is the combo you use to get horsemen off their horse. Otherwise, don't use this combo, because it eats all the meter it builds. Use the previous combo to build meter instead, and build towards a combo using 236S. Snake Muffler > 2H > 236L > L > Snake Muffler Damage: 110 This is a meterless combo you can do if Snake Muffler hits your opponent. Most of this combo will whiff except for the 2H and the second Snake Muffler. Actually a very useful combo, because you lose very little knockdown time from the OTG Snake Muffler. 0.10 bar: 2L > 5L > 5M > 5H > 236S > H > 6S Damage: 248 This is a cheap combo you can do on characters that the hop jH BnB doesn't work on (or is really hard on). *Stage 2 MM (guard break) > H > H > jH > 5L > 5M > 5H > 236S > H > H > jH > 5L > 5M > 5H > 236S > L > 4L Damage: 261 Basic low-meter combo from a flipkick guard break. Not sure exactly how much MINIMUM meter is required, this is just my best guess. This combo is slightly range-dependent -- make sure you're close enough to land both the rekka sweep and the hop jH after the guard break. *2L > 5L > 5M > 5H > 236S > H > H > jH > 5L > 5M > 2H > 236L > L > 4L Damage: 273 Learn this combo! Meter-positive version of the hop jH BnB listed below. Lower damage, but you get the same oki setup from the OTG Snake Muffler. Use this if you need to conserve meter, but don't want to risk backing off to Hamon charge. *2L > 5L > 5M > 5H > 236S > H > H > jH > 5L > 5M > 5H > 236L > L > 6L Damage: 308 Learn this combo! Your basic hop jH BnB. This is a great combo to do if you don't have enough meter to end with super. Nice damage and meter-positive. *2L > 5L > 5M > 5H > 236S > H > H > jH > 5L > 5M > 5H > 236S > L > 4L Damage: 316 Learn this combo! Credit to Silvius for this one. A very efficient combo, only barely meter negative and creates a GREAT hard knockdown for the meaty j214S mixup, as well as safe jumps and empty jump mixup. DEFINITELY worth practicing. You only NEED 0.10 bar to perform this combo, but it's best used if you have around 0.50 bar so that you have enough meter to perform j214S afterwards. *2L > 5L > 5M > 5H > 236S > H > H > jH > 5L > 5M > 5H > 236L > L > 6S Damage: 357 Not meter positive, but much more worth the cost than the 0-bar combo into 6S ender. Use this to kill your opponent if you're a little short of super. 0.25 bar: *j214S > H > H > jH > 5L > 5M > 5H > 236L > L > 6L Damage: 243 Very basic combo from j214S. Mildly meter positive. Do this combo only if you have barely enough meter to start it, otherwise go for a more expensive one. Snake Muffler > (5L) > 236S > H > H > jH > 5L > 5M > 5H > 236L > L > 6L Damage: 301 (309 with extra 5L) This is a tricky but powerful combo you can do off of Snake Muffler. This works on both a regular ground bounce or an extra-high ground bounce. The 5L is an optional move you use to hit-confirm the 236S off an extra-high ground bounce. You actually need less than 0.25 meter to start this combo because of how much meter Snake Meter builds, but I wouldn't recommend doing it with the bare minimum meter. Try to have extra saved up so that you can do better combos and/or stage j214S okizeme afterwards. 0.35 bar: *j214S > H > H > jH > 5L > 5M > 5H > 236S > H > H > jH > 5L > 5M > 5H > 236L > L > 6L Damage: 329 Basic hop jH BnB from j214S. Meter positive. 0.40 bar: *j214S > H > H > jH > 5L > 5M > 5H > 236S > H > H > jH > 5L > 5M > 5H > 236S > L > 4L Damage: 383 j214S combo with a Snake Muffler ender. Use this combo to set up a mixup that potentially leads back into this same combo. Meter negative, so make sure you have surplus bar when you use it. 0.80 bar: 2L > 5L > 5M > 5H > 236L > L > 6L > HHA Damage: 316 Your BnB into super on Iggy, because he's too tiny for the hop jH combos. Can also substitute on characters that the hop jH BnB is really hard on (tiny characters like Shigekyo, Koichi, and crouching unmounted Johnny). 0.90 bar: *2L > 5L > 5M > 5H > 236S > H > H > jH > 5L > 5M > 5H > 236L > HHA Damage: 432 Learn this combo! Your BnB into super on almost every character. Big damage for a little less than a bar on almost the whole cast! 1 bar: 2L > 5L > 5M > 5H > 236L > HHA Damage: 265 Combo on mounted horsemen into HHA. You should probably just combo into 6S instead, unless this combo will kill the horseman. *Stage 2 MM > PC > run up 2L > 5L > 5M > 5H > 236S > H > H > jH > 5L > 5M > 5H > 236L > L > 6S Damage: 390 Combo from PC'ed flipkick combo. Very useful after a flipkick guard break. Just do another flipkick combo after the guard break, PC, and collect your combo. *jH > 2L > 5L > 5M > 5H > 236S > H > H > jH > 5L > 5M > 5H > 236L > L > PC > 2L > 5L > 5M > 5H > 236L > L > 6S Damage: 467 Max damage combo from starting bar. 1.05 bar: *j214S > H > H > jH > 5L > 5M > 5H > 236S > H > H > jH > 5L > 5M > 5H > 236L > HHA Damage: 499 Combo from j214S into super. Yep, for just barely more than a bar, Lisa Lisa can do almost 500 damage off a successful j214S mixup. Try to do this combo with at least 25% bar left over so that you have enough juice for more 236S combos into another mixup. 2 bars: *Stage 2 MM > PC > run up 2L > 5L > 5M > 5H > 236S > H > H > jH > 5L > 5M > 5H > 236L > HHA Damage: 464 Flipkick PC combo into HHA. Sounds like a skateboarding trick. *2L > 5L > 5M > 5H > 236S > H > H > jH > 5L > 5M > 5H > 236L > L > PC > 5L > 5M > 5H > 236L > HHA Damage: 522 2-bar HHA combo from 2L. 3 bars: *jH > 2L > 5L > 5M > 5H > 236S > H > H > jH > > 5M > 5H > 236L > L > PCx2 > 2L > 5L > 5M > 5H > 236L > HHA Damage: 633 Huge-damage 3-bar combo. She builds a ton of bar during her reps, but can't do very many before she runs into the jab limit and her combo drops. You will very rarely see 3 bars with Lisa Lisa anyway, and you shouldn't go out of your way trying to build them. Category:Characters